Souvenir 1773 - 1774

Curator: Look at this striking object, a "Souvenir" created around 1773-1774, now residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: My immediate thought is the almost uncanny blend of formality and intimacy; the severe geometry of the box clashing with the soft, almost ethereal miniature portrait. Curator: Precisely! This is Rococo at play, using a variety of media—oil paint for the portrait miniature alongside possibly enamel, gold, and other materials to embellish the box itself. How do you think this 'souvenir' functioned? Editor: Well, objects like these reveal a lot about 18th-century social rituals, particularly among the elite. Given the word 'Souvenir', was this a container perhaps meant for personal keepsakes tied to romantic or platonic relationships? Was it a status marker meant to display one’s good taste and wealth? The woman depicted – she seems somewhat generic but it is clear she is to be admired for her positionality. Curator: You’ve hit on some important elements. "Souvenir" as a word implies an affective dimension – but to whom, and for whom? Was it truly an item to keep one's intimate memories or perhaps a tool that allowed privileged folks to navigate and negotiate an elaborate game of courting and status at court? Editor: And what about this bright green, juxtaposed against that soft pastel of the portrait? There's a boldness that seems almost out of character for the Rococo era, it suggests an act of challenging norms from whoever originally held this souvenir. Curator: Interesting. I read the green as signaling something else, perhaps drawing on color theory that was fashionable at the time? Green represented fidelity in love or even growth and harmony, which provides context on what values those with privilege possessed at the time. Editor: That opens another question: what agency did this woman in the portrait actually have? Is she a blank canvas onto which aspirations were projected, or does her carefully rendered face hint at an individual self, caught between societal constraints and the desire for self-expression? Curator: It’s these tensions that make "Souvenir" so captivating! It's not just a decorative art piece; it's an encapsulation of power, representation, and the yearning for connection. Editor: Ultimately, by delving deeper, we can see how "Souvenir" echoes across time and resonates in our current reexamination of relationships, memory, and who gets to control those narratives.